Starring
Scott Jacoby, Kim Hunter, Pippa Scott, Dabney Coleman, John Larch.
Directed by Buzz Kulik. (1974/74 min).
AVAILABLE
ON BLU-RAY FROM
Review
by Fluffy the Fearlessđź
I
have fond memories of the ABC Movie of the Week, which used to air on
Tuesdays back in the early 1970s. This anthology series consisted of
modestly-budgeted made-for-TV movies from a variety of genres. Not a
lot of them were memorable, but some served as pilots for popular
television shows and a few - such as Duel and Brian's Song
- were as good as anything playing in theaters.
Some
of the horror-based episodes, such as Trilogy of Terror and
The Night Stalker, have since become cult classics among those
who grew up on them. Watching these movies on a flickering, hand-me-down
black & white TV was my first real introduction to horror, as it
probably was for a lot of children of the 70s.
Bad
Ronald is not as revered as those aforementioned
titles, but like Killdozer, enough of a cult item to at-least inspire a band name. I vividly
remember being disturbed by the concept: Teenage misfit Ronald Wilby (Scott
Jacoby) accidentally kills a taunting peer. His overprotective mother (Kim
Hunter) comes up with an idea to keep him in a hidden room so no one can find him, telling the police he ran away. After she dies,
Ronald remains in the house, staying hidden from the new
owners, a family with three daughters, one whom he begins to obsess
over.
 |
| Snickers satisfies. |
Revisiting
it with adult eyes - I think this is the first time I've ever
actually watched it in color - Bad Ronald is more quaint and
campy then it was all those years ago, playing more like the type of lurid quickie William Castle used to crank out a decade earlier. Still, the story remains kind-of fun, bolstered by tight storytelling and Jacoby's wonderfully
creepy performance. Whatever happened to him, anyway?
Aesthetically,
Bad Ronald is pretty dated and probably lost all its
power to scare audiences a long time ago. But anyone who grew up on this stuff
will certainly find it an amusing trip down memory lane. And with a great Blu-ray
transfer, the movie didn't look this good even during its original
broadcast.
KITTY CONSENSUS:
NOT BAD...A FUN NOSTALGIA TRIP
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